Yep, I just checked my records and I bought one of those super-cheap Silmarillion Deluxe books from him back in 2004. I remember thinking that they must have been selling really poorly and so HarperCollins must have been putting them out as remainders.

I also don't think that HC will be going after the buyers - not only does it sound like they are getting restitution from the thief, but the cost of tracking down and reclaiming the stolen property is likely to be higher than the value of the merchandise to them, so they would lose more money in the process.